Independence
by only here in your arms
Summary: They're on a break. But when Eli sees Clare talking to some guy, Adam and Alli have to remind him that it was his choice to ask for a break. And Clare's not letting it get her down. One-shot.


**I don't mean to make Eli look bad. I'm just still very angry at the situation. Eli calling Clare the problem, asking for a break, and then the very patronizing part where Eli sees Clare crying and all he does is stand there basking in his glory over the video yearbook…whatever. I'm annoyed with Eli. I tried not to make him look as bad as possible but I wanted to write how Clare's happy and not just waiting for Eli to come back. Because Clare deserves to be happy after Eli humiliated her and blamed her.**

**So yeah.**

**Review if you like or not. Just don't review saying I made Eli look bad. Because honestly, he already made himself look like a jerk so…**

**This is a ONE SHOT and yay Adam! In my Degrassi world, he still exists.**

* * *

He was just in a good mood.

Eli walked into school, having had a good night's sleep, all his work finished, and a lot of fun things to do for his zombie project to look forward to. He hadn't felt this great in a while. Things were falling into place.

As he started to pass by the media room he glanced in and saw Clare surrounded by the newspaper staff. They were all smiling and laughing as Clare spoke to them, an equally large smile on her face as well.

It made Eli happy to see Clare like this. Last time he really saw her was when he was in the media room and she was outside by the windowsill.

Now at least they were both in a good place. Not that Eli was happy that they were on a break, because he definitely wasn't, but this showed that he was right. They needed a break from each other and it was proving positive for the both of them.

Eli didn't realize how long he'd been staring until he saw the group dispersing and one boy immediately went to give Clare a hug. She returned it as enthusiastically as the boy and it had only lasted a second or two, but it was enough to get Eli's stomach to flip.

The boy seemed to linger around her, the two of them looking down at the table with held the newest edition of the paper. Clare was at ease with the boy, who Eli had only seen in passing before, and she smiled at him with a smile Eli thought was reserved for him.

In his peripheral vision Eli spotted Alli coming in his direction. He quickly stopped Alli from circling around him and asked, "Who's that guy?"

Alli, clearly bothered by Eli blocking her way, looked toward the direction Eli was pointing to. "I don't know," Alli said. "Some guy on the newspaper with Clare."

"Can you find out for me?" Eli asked.

Alli rolled her eyes. "You don't get to ask me to spy on some guy that talks to Clare."

"She's still my—"

"You're on a break," Alli interrupted sternly. "Broken up, whatever. At this point in time, you are not dating. And according to what Clare told me, you asked for it. So you don't get to keep tabs on her. You crushed her and now she's happy so leave her alone."

Alli brushed past him, her shoulder bumping into his, enough to make him know that she meant business. Eli watched her walk into the media room and approach Clare. Scared that Alli might tell on him Eli ran towards Adam who conveniently was close by.

"Whoa, you running away from someone?" Adam asked him. Eli looked toward Alli and Clare briefly before following Adam down the hallway.

"Nothing, nothing," Eli said. "Just...I just talked to Alli."

"You two don't really seem like the casual conversation pair," Adam pointed out. "This about Clare?"

Eli nodded. "Saw her talking to some guy so I thought I'd ask Alli who it was. Didn't tell me anything."

Adam grabbed Eli's arm and led them to a vacant corner. "What are you trying to do?" Adam demanded to know. "Aren't you guys on some break or something?"

"Yeah," Eli scoffed. "But that doesn't mean we're dating other people. I just wanted to—"

"Clare talking to some guy doesn't mean she's gonna date him," Adam said. "Dude, you sound ridiculous right now. You don't have control on who she talks to, especially since you're the one who asked for the break."

"Yeah, for my health," Eli defended himself. He couldn't believe that Adam was taking Alli's side on this.

"Yeah and Clare's respecting that so you have to respect her. You asked for space, doesn't mean you can invade hers." Adam walked away, leaving Eli in the wake of Adam's fuming anger. He didn't see what the big deal was. And Alli and Adam seemed to be adamant about reminding him that it was his choice.

It was and he stands by it. But he asked for a break, not a break up, so keeping an eye on Clare wasn't as huge a crime as they were making it seem.

* * *

"Can you believe him? Ugh! The nerve of that guy!" Clare listened to Alli rant on about her encounter with Eli earlier that day. The two were having lunch outside near the garden and Alli just ranted on and on and on. "Wanted me to ask you who that guy was. He doesn't get to dictate who you talk to."

"Alli, I don't think it's as severe as you're making it sound," Clare said honestly.

This made Alli turn her head. "Clare, you're not seeing it clearly."

"And I think you're blowing it out of proportion a bit. Yeah, he shouldn't all paranoid about who I'm talking to but I doubt he wants to control it. To be honest it probably just hurt his pride," Clare smirked, biting into one of her mini carrots.

Alli, very impressed by her best friend, matched Clare's grin. "Oh I see. Since he asked for a break and now seeing you all happy without him, it maybe made him jealous."

"Possibly," Clare shrugged. "Adam told me that Eli saw me crying at the windowsill. I guess maybe he was expecting me to still be that sad over it. But I'm not. He asked for a break, I'm giving him a break. But it's not going to ruin my life."

"I am so proud," Alli put a hand over her heart. "Hearing you talk this way. You've come a long way."

"I know," Clare joked, smiling brightly.

"So you're over him calling you…uh…the problem?" Alli cautiously asked.

"I don't think I'll ever be over that," Clare shook her head. "I don't see what I did wrong. Well, I guess I pushed too hard for him to talk to me but that was the only way I knew how to help. Back last year around spring fling time, I had no idea how to deal with his problems then. I thought I knew now but I guess I still don't."

"You guys need to communicate better," Alli pointed out. Clare knew that this must've been about Dallas. "It takes work but for the long run, it's better."

"Eli refused to properly communicate with me," Clare replied. "I made myself clear. He didn't. But it's clear that he thinks I'm the problem. But whatever. We're on a break and truthfully, I'm okay right now. I'm going to focus on other important things. Like the school election."

"Ooh yes!" Alli said excitedly. "You're _totally_ going to beat whoever your competition is. Senior year will be _awesome_ if you're president."

"That's what I'm hoping for!" Clare said. "Help me plan my campaign. I'm going to need all the help I can get."

The two girls headed back to the main entrance of the school and while Clare listened to Alli's suggestions for her campaign. In the middle of "huge posters" and "bright t-shirts", Clare spotted Eli toward the end of the parking lot. He was filming with a bunch of blood covered students, most likely for the zombie film she kept hearing things about on Twitter. After one more look at Eli, behind the camera with a proud smile on his face, Clare turned her attention back to Alli and went on her way.


End file.
